This invention relates to novel cis-N-alkanoyl-N-methyl-4-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphth ylamine analogues, which are key intermediates in a new process for preparing sertraline, together with intermediates thereto and processes for the preparation thereof.
A specific embodiment of the invention relates to the (1S,4S)-stereoisomeric form of such cis-N-alkanoyl-N-methyl-4-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphth ylamines, intermediates thereto and processes for the preparation thereof. These novel cis-1,4-disubstituted tetrahydronaphthylamines and processes thereto are particularly advantageous in the synthesis of the antidepressant agent known as sertraline, or cis-(1S,4S)-N-methyl-4-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1-naphthyla mine, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,518 and in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 1984, 27, 1508.